28/10/2020 | Skills

Offshore wind industry unveils best practice guide to increase diversity

28 October 2020 - RenewableUK press release


The Offshore Wind Industry Council OWIC is today publishing a best practice guide, "Addressing Gender and Ethnicity in the Offshore Wind Sector” to help companies improve recruitment of women and people from minority ethnic (BAME) groups.


To boost progress on building a more diverse workforce, the guide suggests ways to widen the job recruitment process, removing any bias from job descriptions and introducing diverse interview panels. It also outlines how to create a welcoming and fully inclusive working environment for people from all backgrounds, how to retain staff and ensure they are encouraged to progress to senior positions. A variety of case studies show how companies in the UK offshore wind sector are already doing this, as examples of best practice. 


The industry has committed to increasing the proportion of women employed in the offshore wind sector from 16% (in 2018) to at least one-third by 2030 – and to reach a stretch target of 40% if possible.


In March the industry announced a BAME target of 9% by 2030 with a stretch target of 12%. This compares to current BAME representation of 5% in the workforce of the energy sector overall. 


Equinor’s Principal Consultant on Asset Management Carol Williams, who worked on the guide, said:


"This is an important step forward for our industry as it provides a blueprint for us to reach our goal of being more inclusive as our workforce continues to expand rapidly over the course of this decade.


“We know that to hit the Government's 40GW offshore wind target by 2030 we will have to employ the best people from the widest, most diverse pool of talent available. It's important to us that our industry reflects modern British society in a truly representative way and this guide provides a roadmap for us to achieve that".   


The Offshore Wind Sector Deal People & Skills Director Celia Anderson said:


"The guide has been developed by the offshore wind industry to be readily accessible to any company operating in our sector, irrespective of its size or the nature of the work it undertakes. The aim is to create a more inclusive culture by challenging preconceived ideas about gender and ethnicity, so that we can attract the people we need. This is an industry which understands the need to take proactive steps to achieve positive change". 


The guide is being published at RenewableUK’s 3-day Global Offshore Wind 2020 conference and exhibition – the industry’s biggest event of the year, with over 100 global exhibitors and more than 400 speakers joining from around the world. The guide will be discussed in a special session on ethnicity and gender on Thursday 29th October (3.30-5.30pm).


In 2018, RenewableUK launched the Switch List, a crowd-sourced database of women working in the energy sector. It highlights the vast pool of female talent driving change across the entire energy sector and aims to make it easier for those organising industry events to identify expert women thought leaders as speakers and panellists. 440 women have already signed up.


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Notes


The best practice guide, Addressing Gender & Ethnicity in the Offshore Wind Sector, is available at owic.org.uk
The Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) is a senior Government and industry forum established in 2013 to drive the development of the world-leading offshore wind sector in the UK. 


More details on RenewableUK’s Global Offshore Wind 2020 conference and exhibition are available here.
RenewableUK’s full events programme is available here.


More information on RenewableUK’s Switch List is available here.


For further information, contact